Transmission mechanism



H. F. HOBBS 1,972,484

I TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Original Filed Sept. 22. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l H 3 M F5115 l0 gf 39 Hz ii H a Q r ATTORNEYS Sept. 4, 1934. H. HOBBS 1,972,484

TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Original Filed Sept. 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR H'.F.H 66$ BY M ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1934 iv 3 i I V Qumran STATES PATENT I 1,972,484- 7 V TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Y Howard Frederick Hobbs; Paradise; South Australia; Australia Original application September 22, 1930, Serial No. 483,656. Divideiifand this application July 13', 1931, Serial No. 550,584. In'A'ustraliaApril 4, 1930 V I 4' Claims. (Cl'. 18881')' The applicationis a divisional application of outwardmovement of the weights the centrifugal my application Serialmmmmsaeee filed 2211a force thereon also acting through the inions September 1930; now Patent No; 1,865,910 issued' will rotate the gear wheels-in the opposite-direc- July5, 1932. i I T tion; The alternating forces thusimposed onthe" The purpose ofthis'invention is to' provide an' gear wheels 12, 1'3; tend to cause an' oscillatory improved ratchet gear'particularly for use in aumotion of the gear wheels' The action of the tomatically variable transmission gears and it weights'-is-1no re fully descriiied' in the'specificacomprises an outer fixe'd member, an 'inner rot'attion of my Patent No. 11865 910; ing member or members and a roller cage; to- It-is the purpos'e'offthe ratchet-gear to-preyent 10 gether with-meansfor setting:- the roller cage comany rotationof-theiriterniediateshafts'ina-direc- 65 prising teeth upon an extension of the cage; a tion opposite to that required, the direction being pinion to" engage such teeth, the pinion being changeable at will by setting the cag'e as will be loosely"coupled on'a'control shaft a' hand wheel described-later.

to operate such control shaft and means for Theintermediate shafts 14Kand have pairsf 15 locking such control shaft in position. ofprojecting liigs and" 22' respectivelyupoir 70 I In orderthat-my invention maybe the more the'm upon which the inner rotating"members-of clearly understood I willdescribe the same with; the ratchet gearare'seicured; It i's to 1beunder'--' reference to: the accompanying drawings st'ood howe'ver that the constructiondescribed is which: a conyenie'nt form but I do not limit myself 2Q Fig-'.-1 isa"side elevationofadouble acting auto'-- thereto. p v V 70 matically variable transmissionigear incorporat -Theratchetgearcomprises an outer'fixed m'eming such'a ratchet gear; I i ber a-roller cage andtwo inner rotating members; Fig. 2 is=a central vertical section of the gear; The outerjmemberfcorisistsofl a-*c ircularring 30 Fig-L 3"-'is-a-c-rosssectional perspective'view of the concentric" with" the intermediate shafts 14 and 25 ratchet-gear;- lt'rhaving''in its inner faceanumber of curves 3T 86"? Fig; 4--is-a similar cross section view showing of a radius somewhat-smaller than the radiusof only the fixed or outer-member." of' the ratchet the inside of th'e ringi The-ring a's shownin'the gear.' drawings maybe'securedto a block 3'2andthis F .5 is aperspct ve Vi O the roller cag then secured to the housing 1 ofthe gear but the offth ratgh tig arf ring may Ice-attached to 'any other'c'onvenient sta- Figs. 6 and '7 are perspective views of 'the rotat tionaygr p t; k g ingor-inner memhe'rs' of theratchet' 'eari The roller cage consists of a cage 33h'avingt'wo Fig.8"is -a c'rossf sectional persp ectiveview 'shdwrows of-'liols 3'4 thr ougliitj-the holes in"each row ine p y h between theh nd being ad-jacentthe' curves* 31'in th'e'outenfixed 35111711961 and: p on of the Cag a just e a d" member 30. Withine'achmf tlie'holes'isa-rolmr" 90" holding device. 7 Of diameter'slightly gre'a'terthan the thickness Fi 9-"i 'a p 'r'sp t v 'v w" ft tw 'pa' rs of the'cage': The h'oles 34:are suflicientlylongito" I weights a'ndtheir driving c'onnections used in the" a-1Igw tHef011erg35g mall-amount;oftradiafmovea gears shown in Fig. 2, the front plate of the frame mam, ab t: prings 35: provided t m lly Or c s fie-h a hold suchrollers 'in'the"centralfposition-inane 5* The automatically variable gear shown in Figs. 1 13 34, The cage 33 is provided with me ns 1 and 2 comprises a f ame Casing 3 p a for holding it in position comprising a flange 37 driver shaft 2 in which frame or casing are roupon its back which contacts on the one side ,tatably Supported two Sets Of eccentric Weights 11 with the outer member 30 and on the other side =-which are connected to two intermediate shafts th guard 3 tt t t outer member 14 and 15 by pinions 10 upon the weights and the flange 37 having an upwardly projecting porgear wheels 12 and 13 upon the intermediate tion 39 which has a number of teeth 40 upon its shafts. When the driver shaft 2 is rotated the top which are engaged by a small pinion 41 on a .frame 3 rotates therewith carrying the weights control shaft 42.

*"11 with it. The weightsll are caused to rotate The pinion 41 is loose on the shaft 42 but has 05 by reason of their geared engagement with the within it a slot 43 which fits over a key 44 upon gear wheels 12, 13. During the inward movement the shaft. The slot is of greater width than the of the weights the centrifugal force thereon actkey, and the pinion 41 can thus rock upon the ,ing through the pinions 10 will rotate the gear shaft 42 but it is normally held in its one position 1 12, 13, in one direction and during the by a spring 45 which has its one end connected 1) to the pinion il and its other end connected to the shaft 42. This gives a slight flexibility and allows the cage 33 to adapt itself to its best working position.

5 The shaft 42 may be locked in position by a dog 55 .engaging holes in the housing 1 or in a member 56 as shown in the drawings, which member is attached to the housing 1. The dog 55 is slidably held to the control shaft 42 and is held in engaged position by a spring 57'. A hand wheel 58 upon the end of the control shaft is made slidable on such shaft but is kept from rotating thereon by splines 59. The dog 55 is connected to the hand wheel 58 by a rod 60 and. is withdrawn from the holes by pulling the hand wheel 58 upwards.

The two inner rotating members 47 and 48 fit neatly within the cage 33 and the rollers 35 contact with the outer faces of the members 47 and 48. The one inner rotating member 4'? is attached to the outer intermediate shaft 15 the slots 49 on the member engaging the lugs 22 upon that shaft and locking the member thereto. The other inner rotating member 48 is attached to 5 the inner intermediate shaft 14; the slots 50 in that member engaging the lugs 20 upon that shaft. The cut-away portions 51 are for assembly and also to clear the lugs 22 upon the outer.

intermediate shaft when working'so as to allow 0,,a radial movement between the two intermediate shafts.

In operation by setting the cage 33 slightly to one side the rollers 35 are brought nearer to that end of the curved faces 31 of the outer member 35, while the cage 33 prevents them moving towards their other ends, and should the intermediate shafts l and 15 be rotated in the direction of the set of the cage the rollers will immediately wedge between the outer member 30 and the in- -ner members i? and 48 and hold the intermediate shafts firmly to the housing 1 of the gear but leave it free to rotate in the opposite direction as the rollers 35 will strike the ends of the holes 34 in the cage 33 preventing them from passing towards that end of the curved faces 31 of the outer member 30 and so wedging. I

By setting the cage in the opposite direction the intermediate shafts 14. and 15 are held against rotation in that direction. k By setting the cage to its central position the intermediate shafts l4 and 15 are free to rotate in either direction.

Just behind the ratchet gear are shown the flexible couplings 57 which link the intermediate sha'fts Y14 and 15 to the driven shaft,

It is to be clearly understood that in place of two inner rotating members and two sets of rollers as shown one such inner member and one set 60 of rollers or. three or more inner members and inner member, at least one of said members havthree or more sets of rollers may be used. More ing jamming surfaces and one of said members being carried by said part, rollers between and cooperating with the inner and outer members, a nonrotatable cage carrying the rollers and serving to maintain the rollers in the desired positions, springs to press the rollers towards the jamming surfaces, and means permitting slight free rotary motion of the cage to permit the rollers to adapt themselves automatically to the best working conditions.

2. In an automatically variable transmission gear of the planetary weight type, a ratchet device to check any rotation in a direction opposite to that required of a part receiving oscillatory forces from the planetary weights, comprising an inner member, an outer member surrounding the inner member, at least one of said members having jamming surfaces and one of said members being carriedby said part, rollers between and cooperating withthe inner andouter members, a nonrotatable cage carrying the rollers and serving to maintain the rollers in the desired positions,- springs to press the rollers towards the jamming. surfaces, a toothed extension on said cage, a pinion engaging the toothed extension, a control shaft carrying said pinion, and means permitting slight free rotary movements of the pinion in relation to the control shaft, the arrangement being such that rotation of the control shaft causes the pinion to adjust the cage for forward or reverse drive and the cage is at all times free to move slightly to enable the rollers to adapt themselvesto the best working conditions.

3. A ratchet device as in claim 2, having a key and slot connection between the pinion and control shaft, the slot being larger than the key to permit the slight rotary movements of the cage, and a spring connected at one end to the pinion and at its other end to the control shaft to prevent the slight rotary movements from being undesirably slack. 7

4. A ratchet gear as set forth in claim 2, wherein the control shaft is provided with a handwheel whereby. it may be rotated and with a slidable pin adapted to engage holes in a member secured to the housing of the gear whereby it may be locked, the slidable pin being connected to the handwheel so that it may be withdrawn thereby. from said holes. 

